Aquaphiliac

I am currently training to be a lifeguard. It was about time really. I was in swimming lessons or on a swim team almost every summer for the first 13 years of my life. I currently swim laps 3 times a week, sometimes as much as 2.5 miles a day. I love the water. Under it, through it, laying out next to it; I don't think I could be happy if I didn't live near some kind of large body of water.

So when I came home from my first lifeguarding class Saturday night, hungry and tired from a 12 hour day of first-aid/CPR training and rescuing passive victims from the bottom of the deep end, I appropriately chose a seafood-based dish to veganize.

The original dish was sauteed octopus served with fermented black bean sauce and miso vinaigrette. Even if I wasn't a vegan I don't think I'd keep octopus on hand, nor do I live near enough to the creepy Chinese groceries with the skinned rabbits in the windows to acquire fermented black bean paste on a whim. But the flavor combinations in this recipe were just too good not to experiment with. And so, despite the fact it was 10 o'clock at night and I was covered in chlorine and bruised from being backboarded, I fired up the burners and whipped up this delicious meal.

Mocktopus Wild Rice Salad with Black Bean Pear Sauce and Miso Vinaigrette

from Food&Wine, January 2010

for the rice (note: cook each type of rice separately)

1 cup wild rice, cooked according to package directions

1 cup jasmine rice, cooked according to package directions

for the Black Bean Pear Sauce

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

3 cloves of garlic, minced

1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger

2 shallots, chopped fine

1 cup finely chopped red bell pepper

1/2 a jalapeno, seeded and minced

1 cup pears, peeled and chopped

the juice from 1 lemon

2 green onions, green parts only, minced

for the miso vinaigrette

1 tablespoon miso (I had mild red in the fridge; the original calls for white)

3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 tablespoons room temperature water

sea salt & fresh ground pepper (1/8 teaspoon-ish or to taste)

to prepare

In a medium sauce pan, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the beans and cook for about 3-4 minutes.

Add the garlic, ginger, and shallot and cook for another 5 minutes or until the shallots are soft and translucent. You may want to add a little water and/or oil here if the beans are starting to stick too much to the bottom of the pan.

Add the bell pepper and jalapeno and cook until just starting to soften.

Stir in the pear and give the whole thing a few really good, mashing stirs to break up the pears and the beans a bit. The sauce is going to be a bit pink-ish and about the consistency of guacamole.

Turn off the heat and squeeze in the lemon juice. Stir in the green onions and cover. Let sit while you make the vinaigrette.

to make the miso vinaigrette

In a small bowl combine all the ingredients except the salt and pepper and whisk with vigor. Taste and season appropriately. This could be made up to 3 days or so ahead of time; just be sure to bring it back to room temp before serving.

***

To serve this, I chopped fresh spinach into ribbons, mandolined a large carrot into discs, and striped them on a large dinner plate. Using an ice cream scoop, I placed the rice (two wild scoops, one jasmine) on the carrot stripe. I spooned the black bean sauce over the rice, then perpendicularly drizzled the miso over the spinach and rice.

The above recipe made about enough to plate like this 4 times (depending on the size of your scoop). Since I was only feeding myself (yes, I plate this extensively when I'm eating all alone in my apartment. It's better than 30 cats and stacks of newspapers), I had plenty of leftovers for the next week. Suggestion? Cut up a few plum tomatoes, mix with the cold, leftover bean sauce and serve with tortilla chips and a cold one.

The perfect short-cut dinner for that night when, even though Sex Week went so well and you were sure you'd turned a corner and connected with your students, even the usually-participatory students are sitting there with their arms crossed over their chests refusing to talk, and the others are practically glaring while theatrically checking the time on their ubiquitous cell phones.

Week 5 here I come.

Talk Dessert-y To Me

I was beginning to despair, friends and enemies, that my newest crop of English 151 cherubs would never warm up to my hyperactively Socratic, spastically dialectic, sarcastically erotetic, often inappropriately no-holds-barred style of teaching. It was week three and things were looking bleak. Participation was low, blank stares of indifference were high. I was seriously contemplating hiring a one-armed man to teach my lessons for me.


My current lesson/syllabus is organized around several large, nebulous concepts: home, anger, the self, death, fear, etc. As a class we discuss the rhetorical power behind those ideas, looking at texts, both written and otherwise, which illustrate that power in action. The students in turn write/create their own texts using what they've learned. This model has been working pretty well for me (Fall '09 was spectacularly successful), but there's always the exception to the rule.



Enter "Sex Week." Yes, as it is for so many of life's problems, sex was the answer. Finally, finally, finally! I got my students to participate actively in class! I got a nice back and forth dialogue started! I got everyone to say at least one thing in a single class meeting! Finally I got them thinking critically about the world around them! (well, at least the sexual part of it). Is this a cheap sensationalistic ploy to shock my students into participation? Quite possibly; but the way I have it worded above sure sounds pedagogical, don't it? Plus, when it comes to teaching a night class Spring quarter, a 'W' is a 'W' so I'll take it.


The assignment, then, was to find an example of sex being used unexpectedly (for advertising, in a movie, in a song, etc.), write an brief essay applying the rhetorical concepts we'd covered in class to the unexpected sex, and then bring it to class for discussion. One such example was "The Sex Diet." This is a book that recommends having more sex as a way to increase your aerobic activity. It also suggests approaching the meals you eat as though you were making love for the first time ("So, like fumbling nervously in the dark with your eyes closed?" I ask my class, "That would certainly make getting food in your mouth difficult." They laughed. I laughed. The discussion continued successfully).


And so, in honor of "Sex Week" I give to you, my sexy fans and detractors, a ménage à trois of almost pornographically delicious desserts. Eat them in celebration of classroom successes. Eat them like it's your first time. Eat them off of someone you love (or at least who's name you know). Eat them to forget about the dismal lack of actual sex involved in "Sex Week."



Almost Raw Strawberry-Chocolate Yes, Oh, Yes Pleasecake
This recipe is an "IVV" original that was born after I failed to successfully veganize my Mom's delicious scotch shortbread cookie recipe. The dough was too dry to roll out so I turned it into crust instead. As such I'm a little unsure of the exact baking time. I just kept an eye on it and took it out when the whole thing looked golden brown and cookie-ish. Note also that the individual parts of this dessert can be made up to a week in advance. The crust will keep for almost two weeks if tightly covered; the pleasecake topping will keep for a week in the fridge, as will the strawberry-chocolate sauce.

for the crust
1 cup vegan margarine
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
2 1/2 cups flour

for the pleasecake
2 cups raw macadamia nuts, soaked 3+ hours
1/4 cup raw honey
1/4 cup warm water
1/2 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup raw coconut oil (plus a bit extra for greasing the dish)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt

for the topping
2-3 ounces dark chocolate (I used Ghiradelli's 100% cocoa baking bar)
1-2 tablespoons agave nectar or honey
1/4 - 1/3 cup strawberry puree

to prepare
In a stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar together. Add the flour cup by cup until all mixed in. The dough with be pretty crumbly so you may need to moisten your hands with a little water and work in the last bit of flour by hand. Cover with saran wrap and chill while the nuts are soaking. Lightly grease a 9x13 baking pan and press the chilled dough evenly into the bottom. It should be about an inch thick or so all around. Bake up to 25 minutes at 350 degrees. Cool completely before assembling/adding the toppings.

While the crust dough is chilling/baking, prepare the pleasecake and strawberry topping. In a blender or food processor, combine all the "cheesecake" ingredients except the water and lemon juice and pulse to mix up. Slowly add the liquids, scraping the sides if needed, until the mixture resembles smooth oatmeal. Pour onto and smooth evenly over the cooled crust. Place in the freezer for at least three hours.

While the cake is freezing, prep the chocolate-strawberry sauce. Fill a medium saucepan with about 3-4 inches of water and bring to a boil. Place the chocolate in a smaller saucepan and hold over the boiling water to melt. (You can also do this in a double boiler if you have one). When the chocolate is almost fully melted, add the agave/honey and stir well. Pour in the strawberry puree and whisk together until the mixture is very hot. Remove from heat and let cool before using as a topper for the pleasecake. Alternately, you could swirl some into the pleasecake topping before it is fully set. Either way, save some of the sauce to swirl elsewhere after you've finished dessert.

Hot & Heavy Sweet Potato Ice Cream with Red Wine Syrup

inspired by a Food&Wine.com recipe-of-the-day

for the ice cream
1 cup soy cream (recipe below)
1 cup sweet potato puree (about 1 large sweet potato, skinned, baked, and mashed)
1/2 cup soy milk
1/2 cup water
3/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon brown rice syrup
1 tablespoon tapioca flour
1/2 teaspoon each, ground cinnamon and ginger
1/4 teaspoon each, ground nutmeg and cloves
1/8 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

for the soy cream
3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon unsweetened soy milk (Pearl is a very good brand)
2 teaspoons canola oil
1 1/2 teaspoons agave syrup
1 1/2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar

Mix everything together in a blender on medium speed for about a minute and a half. Keep refrigerated until ready to use.

for the red wine syrup
3/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons warm water
3/4 cup red wine (I used Ghost Pines Merlot)

to prepare
In a saucepan over medium heat, whisk together the soy cream, sweet potato puree, soy milk, water, and brown rice syrup. Add the dry ingredients (sugar, flour, spice, and salt). Whisk together and bring to a just boiling. Remove from heat and whisk constantly for about 5 minutes or until all the lumps are smooth and the sugar is dissolved. Press through a strainer if you really want to get fancy. Place in a airtight container and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. Stir in the vanilla extract and mix in an ice cream maker for about 25 minutes (according to manufacturer's instructions). Remove from the machine and place in an airtight container. The consistency of the ice cream now will be a bit like soft serve. Certainly edible. If you would like something more solid to wrap your lips around, place the container in the freezer for up to three hours, checking intermittently for texture.

While the ice cream is in the machine or solidifying in the freezer, make the red wine syrup. In a small sauce pan combine the sugar and the water. Bring to a boil, occasionally stirring. Let cook for about 5 minutes WITHOUT stirring until an amber carmel starts to form. Lower the heat and add the red wine. Stir well to disolve the hardened sugar. Let cool to room temperature before serving. (Note that this will keep for over a month in the fridge so you can make it well in advance of the ice cream. I recommend just keeping some on hand. You never know when you might be faced with something you'd like to coat in alcohol-based syrup.).

Serve scoops of the ice cream with generous drizzles (downpours, really) of the red wine syrup. A sprinkle of finely chopped pecans would be pretty good too.

Surprisingly Seductive Tropical Fruit Parfait
inspired by/veganized from a Sophie Dahl recipe in the March 2010 issue of "F&W"

for the sorbet-ish topping
1 cup Malibu rum (or other coconut rum)
1/2 cup demerara sugar
10 ounces of chopped pineapple
1 container plain soy yogurt (about 6 ounces)
1 cup light coconut milk
1 tablespoon lemon juice


for the salad
2 cups papaya, peeled and chopped
1 cup kiwi, peeled and chopped
2 cups mango, peeled and chopped
2 starfruit, chopped


In a small sauce pan, combine the sugar and rum. Bring to a boil, stirring often to dissolve all the sugar. Cook for 6-8 minutes or until reduced to 3/4 cup. Let cool.
In a blender, puree the pineapple and 2 tablespoons of the coconut syrup until almost completely smooth. Transfer 1/4 cup of the mixture to a medium bowl. (Save the rest for pina coladas and banana milkshakes the next day).
Into the bowl with the pineapple, whisk in the yogurt, coconut milk and lemon juice. Pour the mix into a 9x9 glass baking dish and place uncovered in the freezer. Every 15 minutes or so for about an hour and a half, remove the dish and stir up the mixture with a fork or whisk to break up the clumps.
While the sorbet is freezing, peel and chop all the fruit into bite-sized pieces. For the starfruit, save a couple of star-shaped slices to place on the rims of the serving glasses. Mix together in an airtight container and refrigerate until ready to use.
To serve, layer the fruit and sorbet in tall glasses and serve with the slice of star fruit on the rim.



***




I don't know about you kids, but I think a cold shower is in order.

How Green Was My Dinner?

Those of you who know me (or who have taken the time to read all the way down to the "About Me" section of my FB profile) know that my favorite color is green.

It also ended up being, quite accidentally, the unofficial theme of Spring Quarter: Week 2's menu. I didn't do much cooking last week (there's only so long one can stretch out Syllabus Day before the actual teaching has to start) but I managed to make a couple of very nice dinners.

I also had a gloriously shining moment of sheer genius.

Yes, those are rubber bands holding a cooking magazine to the cupboard door above my sink. Yes, it freed up precious and much-needed counter space. Yes, I made Roomie get up off the couch to come bask in my amazing cleverness. Yes, I'm sure someone has already done/invented this. No, I don't care.

The first dinner of the week was adapted from the back of a Hodgson Mill spaghetti box. It was originally called "Winter Green Pasta" but this made me think about toothpaste and gum, and what pasta might taste like so-flavored. Highly unappetizing.

Not-Mint Pasta

1 pound spinach spaghetti (or other long pasta)

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 teaspoon fresh grated ginger

2 green onions, green and white parts, chopped

2 celery stalks, chopped

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup vegetable broth

1 pound fresh spinach, sliced in ribbons

2 tablespoons cornstarch, mixed into 1/4 cup cold water

Cook the pasta according to the package directions.

While the pasta is cooking, heat the oil in a large skillet or frying pan. Add the ginger, onions, and celery. Cook over medium heat until just beginning to soften. Don't brown. Add the salt, broth, and spinach. Bring to a boil, cover, and reduce heat to low. Cook for 10-15 minutes or until all the veg is cooked to your liking. Stir in the cornstarch-water mixture. Cook until the mix is hot again (don't boil or the cornstarch will get all clumpy-thick).

Drain the cooked pasta and return to the pot. Pour the veggie mix in and stir well to coat. Serve with more cooked veg (or dump a can of tuna on top like Roomie did).

***

The next dinner was more prep-intensive, but since this was my Sunday Supper, I didn't mind spending an extra couple of hours in the kitchen. Next time I'll probably make some of the pieces parts ahead of time just to have on hand.

What took a bit of time was my first-time experimentation with steaming some artichokes. I brought about 3-4 inches of water, a quarter of a lemon (squeezed into the pot, then tossed in), bay leaf, 2 crushed garlic cloves, and 1/4 cup white wine to a boil in a medium sauce pan. Then I just put the artichokes in, covered, and let steam the 45-60 minutes I was making the rest of the dinner. They turned out pretty good served with the following dipping sauce (and now I have two artichoke hearts to turn into something else delicious!)

Quick & Tangy Dipping Sauce

3/4 - 1 cup vegan mayo (regular or fat-free)

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

3-4 basil leaves, chopped very fine

1 teaspoon cheater garlic

1 teaspoon vegan parmesan cheese or nutritional yeast (optional)

salt & black pepper to taste

Whisk everything but the salt and pepper together in a small bowl. Taste, season, whisk again, and serve.

The main dish was a variation on a broccoli recipe from the April 2010 issue of Vegetarian Times. It's a broccoli pesto that contains no basil. Weird, huh? But since technically the word pesto is Italian for "pounded" (by way of the Latin "pistare" ie: mortar & pestle), I guess it really doesn't matter what you're pounding as long as it turns into sauce you serve over pasta.

Bresto Orrecchiette

sounds fancy, don't it?

1/2 cup raw, slivered almonds

2 cups broccoli florets

1 1/2 cups loosely packed flat-leaf/Italian parsley

1/4 cup olive oil

1/2 cup mint leaves

4 teaspoons lemon juice

grated zest from 1 small lemon

5 big garlic cloves

drained capers (for serving)

16 oz. orrecchiette pasta (or some other little pasta shape (farfalle, gemelli, conchiglie) that will hold up to a nice thick sauce)

Steam the broccoli in a pot of boiling water for about 3 minutes or until just soft and bright green. Rinse under cold water, drain, and set aside.

In a food processor or blender, pulse the almonds, parsley, mint, garlic, and lemon zest. Note that if you are using a blender, it will help if you chop up the garlic and herbs first.

Add the broccoli and lemon juice and pulse/blend again, scraping the sides as needed.

With the blender/food processor running on low-medium, slowly add the oil. Blend until the mixture is smooth but not liquid-y. You may need to add a little warm water if it seems like it's getting to thick, especially if you're using a blender.

(You could stop right here and just stick the bresto in the fridge for a couple days. Return to room temperature before mixing with the pasta, though.)

Boil the pasta according to package instructions (don't overcook!). Drain and return to the pot. Add the bresto and stir well to coat. Scoop into shallow bowls and top with as many capers as you like. If you don't like capers, you may want to throw a teaspoon or so of sea salt into the bresto.

***

I'll warn you now, friends and enemies, there's a good chance I won't be cooking anything during Week Three. I have my first round of response papers to grade, Roomie's first big away regatta is coming up, my first lifeguard course is this weekend, my cousin The Wild Child is coming for an OU street Fest....

...actually, I'll probably need to cook, just to stay sane.

Unbelievably Vegan

Though I love the effort required to make something from scratch (and the satisfied, semi-smug feeling I get from doing so), there's something to be said for convenience foods. Something quick you can whip up without pulling out every tool in the kitchen.

Unfortunately, most of those foods don't have vegan counterparts - or at least not any that are readily (and/cheaply) available.

Understandably, then, I get pretty excited when I find something that is conventional, quick, stocked regularly at Kroger, and vegan. These items often surprise the non-vegans in my life, for many of whom vegan = weird.

So I've decided, everynowandthen, to include a post about some Unbelievably Vegan foods.

Oreos? Kroger Cinnamon Graham Crackers? Swedish Fish? Fritos? Vienna Cremes? Pilsbury pizza dough?

All vegan. All quick to eat and easy to find.

Today's Unbelievably Vegan delicacies are the Duncan Hines Classic Yellow cake mix and Creamy Homestyle Frosting (Classic Vanilla and Chocolate). If you read the labels carefully, you'll find many mixes and frostings are vegan. Soy- and vegetable-based fats have a longer shelf life than true dairy products and are often cheaper.

Though the cake mix itself is vegan, it requires three eggs. Enter flax seeds and the Goo! they create. I mixed two tablespoons whole golden flax seeds and one tablespoon of ground flaxseeds with nine tablespoons of warm water in a glass measuring cup. Let sit for at least 40 minutes, or until the Goo! starts to form. Then prepare the cake mix according to the box instructions. The end-result cupcake is a little more moist, more prone to falling apart in your hand than a conventionally made cupcake, but the taste is pretty much identical.

While the cupcakes are baking/cooling, divide the vanilla frosting and dye it various colors. Decorate and spend all the time you saved using pre-made mixes enjoying the looks of incredulity on people's faces when you tell them the cupcakes are vegan.

Note that the M&M's on top of the cupcakes are not vegan. I was just trying to use up some of the candy from the Easter goodie bag The Raccoon gave Roomie in a way that didn't involve my eating it all in one sitting. Plus, they look really cute like this, don't you think?

Easter Feasting

Despite the fact that I didn't make the trip up to Cleveland to spend Easter with my extended family, I had a pretty nice holiday weekend. A massage, fresh-cut daffodils, a kick-ass soloist plus the chance to catch up with one of my favorite ex-students at Mass Sunday morning, and of course, cooking & baking.

When deciding what to make for Easter dinner, I knew it had to be simple. I didn't want to spend all day in the kitchen since I had plenty of prep to do for my classes. Plus, I didn't want anything too filling as I was looking forward to ending my Lenten dessert embargo.


Soup to the rescue!

And what better to make my soup with than at-its-peak-of-deliciousness asparagus?

Nothing better, that's what. And nothing cheaper either, since asparagus is currently on the swindle at Kroger. The following dish is my own personal spin on a mish-mash of recipes from Food Network, VegWeb, and other online cooking resources.

Easter Sunday Cream of Asparagus Soup

2 1/2 pounds fresh asparagus, tough ends discarded, cut in half
6 tablespoons vegan butter
2 good-sized shallots, chopped
1 celery stalk, chopped
1 large carrot, chopped
7 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 scant teaspoons dried thyme
1 bay leaf
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1 tablespoon sea salt
1 tablespoon dry vermouth

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Fill a large bowl with salted ice water. In batches, cook the asparagus in the boiling water until just soft, about 5 minutes. Transfer to the ice water with a slotted spoon, then to a collander. Pat with paper towels to remove any excess water. Reserve 7-8 cups of the asparagus cooking-water. Take about 2 dozen of the asparagus tips, chop very fine, and set aside. Chop the remaining asparagus into bite sized peices.
In a large soup pot, melt the butter over medium-high heat. Add the onions, carrot, and celery. Cover and cook until soft (about 15 minutes), stirring occasionally. Add the flour and cook for another few minutes.
Add the reserved cooking water and bring to a boil. Toss in the bay leaf and thyme. Lower the heat, cover, and let simmer for about 10 minutes. Add the bite-sized, chopped asparagus and boil again. Remove from heat and let cool (15-25 minutes).
Remove the bay leaf from the soup. Working in batches (or using an immersion blender) blend the soup until very smooth. Return the puree to the pot, stir in the parsley and finely chopped asparagus tips. Add the vermouth and salt, stir, and bring to an almost boil.
Serve with fresh black pepper, some Crumb's birdseed bread (if you're lucky enough to live somewhere it's available) and lightly steamed zuchinni and snow peas.

Daffs for the flower arrangement courtesy of the Athens' Farmers' Market
and my BFF JSK's backyard

For dessert I made a Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie. Roomie l-o-v-e-s LOVES strawberry-rhubarb pie. I had to give him a half-pie limit or there would have been none left for me at all. For this pie I tried a veganized (cold Earth Balance sticks instead of butter) version of Martha Stewart's pie crust. Since I don't have a food processor, I did everything by hand, utilizing what my Mom called "Great-Gramma's Cuisinart" as she lent it to me. Since I've never used a processor or stand mixer to make dough, I can't really compare the two, but I kinda like the amount of elbow grease necessary doing things like kneading and cutting by hand.

Here's my recipe for the pie filling:

2 - 2 1/2 cups each, chopped strawberries and rhubarb
2 tablespoons minute tapioca
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon lemon juice
a pinch or two ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla

Mix all the above ingredients in a large bowl. Let sit while you are preparing/chilling the dough. Roll out a little more than half the dough for the bottom crust and place in a 9-inch dish. Pour in the fruit filling. Roll out the remaining dough and slice however you choose to top the pie. I used my carrot cookie cutter for egg-stra Easter awesome-ness.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes. The edges on my pie were getting a little dark around the 25 minute mark but the fruit wasn't bubbling, so I covered it with foil for the last 15 minutes or so.
Serve warm, topped with a spritz of Rice Whip.

***
And so, friends and enemies, I hope you all had a wonderful Easter.

P.S. Now that Lent is over (and all the most delicious of fruits are coming in season), I'll be making more of the sweet stuff so stay tuned!

First Week Eats

One week down, nine to go loyal readers!

I hit the ground running this, my last Spring Quarter in Athens, when I was asked to teach a second class - one I'd never taught before! - at the very last minute. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy to do it (and super excited to get a chance to teach my horror syllabus to a more advanced class) but it certainly added to the craziness of the first week of classes. Learning 55 new names and faces, dealing with print-on-demand-only and sold-out books, a dozen add/drops, pink slip requests, finalizing syllabi and library sessions...


And somewhere in that chaotic mix I had to help Roomie figure out his class schedule, try and find time to hang out with The Kid, and deal with The Raccoon (who is occasionally staying with us while she trains to be a yoga teacher).


Oh, and eat every now and then as well.


Because it's been so hectic, the dishes this week have been of the one-pot, stew variety. They have not, however, been any less delicious. The first is from Food & Wine online. I'm a fan on Facebook so every day I get at least one recipe, and often a link to a series of themed meals/recipes in my NewsFeed. My recipe, made Monday night, is adapted from one of F&W's"Dinner Tonight" suggestions.


Adjuncterrific White Bean & Chard Stew
pretty easy on the ol' Group III pocketbook, too


2 pounds of swiss chards, stems & leaves, chopped
1/4 cup olive oil
1 1/2 - 2 tablespoons cheater garlic
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 16 oz.can (two cups) chopped tomatoes
2 cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
about 1 teaspoon coarse sea salt


Steam the chard (in a pan with about an inch of water or in a microwave basket-steamer like I have). Drain and pat with a paper towel to remove excess water. Set aside.
In a large pot, heat the oil. Add the garlic and the red pepper. Cook for a few minutes until fragrant.
Add the tomatoes and bring to a boil. Add the beans, lower the heat, and simmer for 3-5 minutes. Add the chard and simmer for another 5 or so minutes. Season with the salt and serve with some crusty bread and a fruit-forward red wine.


This stew fed Roomie and I quite well for about two days (I doubled the original recipe so there would be leftovers, served it over angel hair pasta the second night). But by Wednesday the fridge needed restocked. Enter my, "bday-gift-to-myself" jar of tandoori spices from Whole Foods, and my, "xmas-gift-to-myself" jar of saffron threads from Williams-Sonoma. Thus was born the following dinner (and the beginning of a days-of-the-week food poem).

Woah-ful Tandoori Stew with Saffron-Jasmine Rice
"Wednesday's meals taste like woah!"

for the rice
as much jasmine rice as you care to eat
2-3 saffron threads per 1 cup of dry rice

for the stew
1/4 cup grapeseed oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 teaspoons tandoori spices
1 small head of cauliflower, chopped into bite-sized pieces
1 can chopped tomatoes
1 bag frozen, chopped okra

for serving
raw spinach, chopped flat-leaf parsley, sliced tomatoes

to make
Prepare the rice according to the package instructions, adding the saffron when you pour the rice into the boiling water.
While the rice is cooking, heat the oil in a large pot. Add the onion and the tandoori spices and cook over medium heat until the onions are soft.
Add the cauliflower and stir to coat the veggies with the oil and spices. Cook until the cauliflower is just starting to soften.
Add the tomatoes and bring the mix to a boil. Stir in the okra. Bring to a boil again, cover, and reduce heat to low. Simmer until the vegetables are soft/defrosted and cooked all the way through.

Serve the stew over a bed of rice and spinach ribbons. Top with the chopped parsley and tomato slices.

***

I kept myself fed the rest of the week with leftovers and a mix of alcohol and raw veggies.

I finally got both my classes mapped out, all the pink slips signed, books ordered, and BlackBoards set up. I even have about 60% of my students' names learned!

I also managed to help Roomie register for his classes, spend an evening with The Kid, and chat for more than 30 seconds with The Raccoon.

If these trends continue? It should be one hella-excellent quarter.